New Delhi, Aug 14 (PTI) The Congress on Thursday described the Supreme Court's directive to the Election Commission in the SIR case as a "massive victory for democracy, and said the top court has upheld the Constitution in a "categorical, convincing, and courageous" manner.

The opposition party also said it is a long struggle to rescue the Republic from the "machinations" of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his "drumbeaters" but the directive of the top court on the Bihar SIR issue is a "gigantic first step".

The Supreme Court on Thursday directed the Election Commission of India (ECI) to publish details of 65 lakh deleted names from the voters' list with reasons of non-inclusion to enhance transparency in Bihar's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral roll.

A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi passed the order while hearing pleas challenging the June 24 ECI decision to conduct the SIR of electoral roll in Bihar.

Reacting to the development, Congress general secretary in-charge organisation K C Venugopal said the Supreme Court’s ruling is a "massive victory for democracy", and a huge message for the "vote chors (thieves)" who tried to use the SIR to distort the electoral process in Bihar.

"As one of the petitioners in this case, it is heartening that in unequivocal terms, the court has ordered that machine-readable electoral rolls be made available -- in line with one of the central demand of Rahul ji’s press conference," Venugopal said.

"We also welcome the insistence on swift declaration of the 65 lakh deleted names by the ECI which will no doubt go a long way in bringing much needed transparency to the SIR process," he said.

Venugopal said the court rejecting the ECI’s decision to not accept Aadhaar is also a major boost, since in a state like Bihar, Aadhaar card is the most widely held document by the poor and marginalised.

"We see this as an important first step in our fight against the draconian and disastrous SIR process. Our fight to expose the ECI’s malpractices and complicity in vote rigging will continue with renewed vigour," the Congress leader said.

Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said the Supreme Court has just upheld the Constitution of India in a "categorical, convincing, and courageous manner".

"It is a long struggle to rescue our Republic from the machinations of the PM and his drumbeaters. But today's verdict of the Supreme Court on the Bihar SIR issue is a beacon of hope. It is a gigantic first step," Ramesh said on X.

The top court's bench directed to publish the list of 65 lakh voters whose names featured in the electoral roll but were dropped from the draft roll published by the ECI on August 1.

The list comprising names of those who have died, migrated or moved to other constituencies was directed to be displayed along with reasons at the panchayat level office and the office of district level returning officers.

The bench further stressed on giving wide publicity via newspapers including vernacular and English dailies apart from television news channels and radio informing the people about the places where the list would be available.

The top court also allowed people aggrieved by the deletion of their names to approach the poll officials along with their Aadhaar card.

The bench while posting the matter for August 22, asked the poll body to file a compliance report of its direction. PTI ASK ASK KVK KVK

Publication of deleted voter names ordered to ensure electoral transparency; Aadhaar accepted for challenging deletions and compliance mandated. The court ordered publication of deleted electoral roll entries with reasons, required machine readable electoral rolls, local display at panchayat and district returning officer offices, broad media publicity, and directed the election authority to file a compliance report. Aggrieved persons may approach poll officials with Aadhaar to challenge deletions, creating an accessible remedial route during the Special Intensive Revision process.